I'm in love with a salad: Edamame Three Bean

I think this must be the salad de jour, or salad de summer. Everywhere I go, from the shore of Long Beach Island to the hills of West Virginia, this salad is whipped up and on the table in no time. The dressings are different, but the beans are pretty much the same.

I love it, nutrition at its prettiest and most simple. It is gorgeous!

Find the recipe for Edamame Three Bean Salad on SBK page 67. It is really easy to throw together and can be made from a well-stocked pantry. The only item you may have to put on your shopping list is shelled soy beans (edamame).

Now, about these soy beans: they are getting cheaper by the week! It used to be that I could only find them in the freezer or Natural section of Wegmans. They were in the pod, and were selling for about $3.99/10 ounces. So, I happily put out the cash, because i knew you got about the same amount at Kampai Japanese Restaurant for twice that. My boys love them and it keeps them busy and satiated while if finish making dinner.

Are soy beans seasonal? What accounts for the drop in price and the variety of forms, in pod, shelled, etc? I think it has to be demand. Did you know that the U.S. exports most of the soy products that it produces? Yup.

Now you can find these cute little greenies ready to use in the freezer section for the low-low price of $1.89-$3.29 depending on where you shop.

SBK has specific amounts of the beanies/legumes and red pepper that they want you to add. Uh-huh, okay, but what happens to the open leftover beans that skulk to the back of my refrigerator and hide in rubbermaid containers until they are unrecognizable gooh? How likely am I to remember to put that 1/2 red pepper into my next sauce or crudete platter? I don't want to find out. So, in went the whole can of corn and the whole bag of shelled edamame and a whole diced red bell pepper along with the legumes. I figured I'm adding about 2 cups of extra goodies, so I compensated by making 1 1/2 the amount of dressing.

Results?: About what can be expected when food looks like beans and is not sitting along side a hot dog and covered in sugar. Boys ate it willingly and 14 year old had seconds. Dad didn't shove it to the side of his plate, and I of course made it the center of my meal.

Variations: If you like a tangier or sweeter dressing, I suggest adding a Tablespoon of Agave Nectar to give it that honey-mustard affect. Otherwise, I liked this savory salad.

$$: It's about a $5.00 salad if red peppers are plentiful and cheap.

Comment and tell me what you think!

Smooth Move, Mom!

Yeah, I got my SBK book back from Colleen and I'm back in business! First order of business was feed the kids a snack. Problem, haven't been to the store in over a week and the cupboards are pretty empty. But, I have soy milk, I have frozen fruit, it is sunny and supposedly summer out there, so let's make smoothies!

Basic Fruit Smoothie recipes are on page 26 of SBK. I have frozen strawberries and a random banana, so I'm going for the strawberry banana smoothie variation.

My hint to you when using frozen fruit: microwave. I don't know if that breaks any veganista rules, or not, but I did it. I find that if you microwave the frozen fruit until it just begins to thaw (20-30 seconds for 1 cup of fruit), you don't end up with chunks of unblended icy fruit in your smoothie. If it has rocks in it, then it isn't so smooth, now is it? I don't think the SBs would mind. And, if they do, I'd love to hear from them, so do tell if you care!

Anyway, I tried this same recipe with rice milk and had the same results: both 10 year old and 14 year old gulped them down through a straw. Even dad liked it.

Of course, this gave me a great idea. Next morning I used some leftover and much maligned Fruitfulls that have been discontinued at Wegmans. Do you know the ones? You can get them at Big Lots now, they have 90 calories, and they are supposed to make you feel full with few calories. The kids loved them for about a year and now won't touch them. Anyway, I blended the Fruitfuls (two -8 ounce bottles) with the frozen strawberries and fed them to the guinnea pigs, a.k.a my family. Tah-dah, they loved them. 14 year old asked me how I make my smoothies so frothy. When I told him I used the Fruitfuls he was soooo bummed! "I hate those things," he said. Well, apparently you don't hate them so much, youngin'. Smooth Move, Mom!

Pancakes are a Kid's Best Friend!

Back from our second weekend of summer fun, and ready to share more vegan yumminess with the world. Trouble is, i loaned my SBK cookbook to buddy Colleen, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this post. No worries, I actually prepared these pancakes with book in hand, I just didn't blog about it in a timely manner. So, here goes . . .

Do you avoid pancakes because you may as well slap them directly on your hips, thus skipping the enjoyment factor and going straight for the larger waisteline? Me too. But, in the interest of "science" (yeah, right, in the interest of ME) I whipped up theseSBK pancakes for breakfast while we were all at home last week.

I chose to go with Banana Nut variety, but I'll certainly make all the other varieties to satisfy my "132 recipe" goal.

Pancakes were delish, as Rachel Ray would say! I didn't slather them in her trademark EVOO, instead I opted for apple butter and the kids used the usual Lite Syrup from a bottle. Their syrup does nothing for me, but they think real maple syrup is too watery. Poor training, sorry.

Don't expect these pancakes to be light as a feather, or fluffy. They are not. They taste really good, but they are moist or dense no matter how long you cook them, so don't over cook them. I suggest putting the skillet at 300 degrees and being patient, but not too patient.

The recipe calls for Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. I think you could also make them with White Whole Wheat Flour, which I buy. It is made by King Arthur and available at Wegmans. WW Pastry Flour is available at Healthy U and Wegmans. You can buy it in bulk or pre-packaged. To keep it fresh, especially if you don't bake much, keep it sealed and in the frig or freezer.

I also liked the banana nut variety because who doesn't have a banana in the fruit bowl that the kids think is too mushy to eat? The nuts add good fiber, protein and keep tummies feeling full for a longer time.

So, unless you want to eat your pancakes under a neon sign, and surrounded by people waiting for the all-you-can-eat special at Denny's, I think you'll like these pancakes. No Guilt! If your kids don't like them, blame me, the Not-So-Skinny Bitch in the Yellow Kitch.

Toodles, off to grab my book from Colleen! I'll let you know if she made any recipes and what she thought! She has a way bigger kitchen than me, so I bet stuff even tastes better made there!